Clifford H. Brandt Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison

About eight months after the last session, Mr. Denis Pierre Michel, President of the Gonaïves Criminal Court, made his order in the trial of Clifford Brandt and co-workers. According to the reasons for this 72-page decision, the guilty parties Edner Comé, Ricot Pierre-Val and Clifford H. Brandt receive 20 years’ imprisonment, while the defendant Carlo Bendel Saint-Fort is sentenced to 17 years in prison. Dissatisfied with this verdict, the convicts plan to appeal in cassation within the time allowed by the law.

For his confirmed involvement in the kidnapping followed by the sequestration of Nicolas and Coralie Moscoso, Clifford H. Brandt is sentenced to 17 years of forced labor and 3 years of imprisonment. He will have to pay a fine of 75,000 gourdes for his complicity in the possession of automatic firearms and ammunition. According to the magistrate, this decision is taken in accordance with the combined provisions of articles 293-1 of the law of March 20, 2009, 45 of the penal code and 16-C of the decree of May 23, 1989. Benefiting from article 1 of the law of the December 4, 1893 (law Lespinasse), the culprit will spend 20 years behind bars.

In accordance with the provisions of articles 293-1 of the law of March 20, 2009, 16-C of Decree 23 May 1989 and 218 of the Criminal Code, Edner Comé, presented as the brain of the group, is sentenced to 15 years of forced labor for kidnapping followed by sequestration of persons for ransom, 2 years for usurpation of title and police function and 3 years’ imprisonment for illegal possession of automatic firearms and related ammunition. The person concerned, who benefits from the Lespinasse law, will spend 20 years in prison.

The court sentenced the guilty Carlo Bendel Saint-Fort to 17 years of forced labor for kidnapping followed by sequestration of people for ransom. In accordance with article 1 of the law of 4 December 1893, he will be imprisoned for 17 years.

Finally, the accused Ricot Pierre-Val is sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. This sentence is divided as follows: 15 years of forced labor for kidnapping followed by forcible confinement, 2 years for usurping the function of a traffic officer and 3 years imprisonment, in accordance with the provisions of articles 293-1 of the law of March 20, 2009, 17 of the current penal code, 16-A of the decree of May 23, 1989 on the control of the corresponding firearms and ammunition. The person concerned is obliged to pay a fine of 5,000 gourdes.

Begun in December 2018, the trial ended in April 2019. After some 20 hearings, some more stormy than the others, it took eight months for the dean to assess this case that he considers « complex » . To achieve this, he pointed out, in addition to the requests and exceptions that have been produced, three hundred pieces have been thoroughly analyzed. The magistrate wishes to point out that he acted in his soul and conscience and within the limits of the laws governing the matter.

Jodherson Cadet

Source Le Nouvelliste